Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, New York, has announced a five-year, $350 million investment, as well as the launch of a $150 million fundraising campaign, to expand pediatric mental health services and access to care for children and teens.

The investment will support capital, programs, services, and operating costs to expand pediatric behavioral health services across its footprint, including a new model of care, as well as the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Pavilion, a center dedicated to integrating physical and mental health care for children. The approximately 200,000-square-foot building will be connected to Cohen Children’s Medical Center and Zucker Hillside Hospital, Northwell’s adult mental health facility, in Queens, and include more than 100 inpatient beds for children and adolescents, as well as specialty ambulatory clinics to treat a variety of disorders.

The initiative was announced this week at the Cohen Children’s Medical Center “birthday party” at Citi Field, during which $4 million was raised for pediatric mental health services, bringing the total to $27 million of the $150 million goal. According to Northwell, in the United States, nearly one in five children is diagnosed with a behavioral, emotional, or mental health disorder, but only 20 percent of those children receive specialized treatment.

“For far too long, mental health care has been fraught with stigma and disparities in access, and we are determined to create a new model of care so that every child’s mental well-being receives the same care as their physical health,” said Northwell senior vice president of pediatric services Charles Schleien. “As the largest provider of pediatric services in New York State, we are enhancing our holistic approach and strengthening our continuum of care so that children in need will have access to the very best evidence-based treatments. This investment will break the archaic siloed approach in which physical health is addressed at one facility and mental health at another by fully integrating physical and mental health care for children.”

(Photo credit: HDR)